Expected Horror, found something better

Rating: Null/10 (25 September 2003)

Complaints have been made that this movie didn't embrace any single genre enough to be successful as a film. Regardless of rather you call it horror/ suspense/drama/action the greatest achievements of the film are not found in any of these catagories.
Warning: Read no further if you do not wish to have the entire plot of the movie revealed to you.
Almost from the opening scene, in which radical environmentalists set free a hoard of Rage infected chimpanzees, is becomes fairly obvious that this movie will be dealing with issues larger than "How can we kill the people trying to kill us". Soon after Jim is informed of the fate of the entire British Isles, the film begins its observation and commentary on human nature. Serena, the female lead, delivers the chillings line, "Staying alive is as good as it gets", and that point is addressed for the remainder of the movie.
Lots of movies end with a feeble attempt to convey to the viewer that the characters of the film really got to know themselves and the people around them by undergoing the events that make up the movie. I think in the case of 28 Days Later, this effect is achieved with tremendous success. In the context of not only coping with being amongst the few humans left, as far as they know, on Earth, further issues such as if and how to rejuvenate the human population and what aspects of human life are necessary to make it worth living, are also raised.
If you want a typical suspense/horror movie then go see The Ring but if you also want a frightening two hour crash course in philosophy, sociology, and behavioral studies, 28 Days Later is well positioned to provide an intellectual and emotional kick start to a movie-going mind that has been number by the pointless drivel that is blanketing today's cinema screens.